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What is more cost effective? Recycle or reload?

ShootSSShootSS Member Posts: 9 ✭✭
edited November 2007 in Ask the Experts
Hello, I am considering getting into reloading. I know some guys swear by it and since you can create your own ammo for about 1/3 the cost, it certainly is cost effective.

Next question: If I do NOT get into reloading, what should I do with the brass? I hate littering and believe in recycling. Do I recycle the brass or is it more valuable to sell my spent cartridges to reloaders?
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Comments

  • midnightrunpaintballermidnightrunpaintballer Member Posts: 2,233 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    sell to reloaders. put in bags of 100 or so and sell right here on the auction side. or take them to the scrap yard. i'd prefer to reload but without the time i'm also looking into alternatives for now.
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  • DENWADENWA Member Posts: 390 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Are you hunting, blasting or shooting for small groups?

    If you are serious about hunting or shooting for dime size groups then it is definetly worth it.

    If you are a weekend hunter whose rifle shoots factory minute of deer, or a guy whom takes his family out to destroy some evil tin cans.... Stay with factory.

    My experience is that the money savings is just a small (but real) benefit. The time it takes to get your load down to perfection (for each rifle) is a labor of love and very addictive!

    Best thing I can tell you is start with a friend who has some experience and may allow and supervise the use of his equipment.

    Good luck
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  • dtknowlesdtknowles Member Posts: 810 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yes, pick up your brass and do something good with it.

    You might find reloading fun. Go to the library and get a copy of a reloading manual or buy one. Read up and see if it is something you might be interested in.

    Even if you don't reload, you can sell your used brass for enough to make it worth the trouble.

    If nothing else give the brass to someone who will use it or sell it.

    Tim
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  • dfletcherdfletcher Member Posts: 8,179 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by ShootSS
    Hello, I am considering getting into reloading. I know some guys swear by it and since you can create your own ammo for about 1/3 the cost, it certainly is cost effective.

    Next question: If I do NOT get into reloading, what should I do with the brass? I hate littering and believe in recycling. Do I recycle the brass or is it more valuable to sell my spent cartridges to reloaders?


    Careful - reloading your ammo doesn't always turn out to be cheaper. I've been reloading since about 1973 and because of it, my shooting has expanded from plain old 222 Remington, 30.06 or 308 and some 38s, 45s and such to about 50 different calibers - sometimes I've bought a gun just to have a new caliber to reload, just bought a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby for that reason. So if you're careful you can save money, but reloading can turn into a pretty good excuse to spend big $$$.
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  • ShootSSShootSS Member Posts: 9 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thanks for all the input. I have a new friend who is a wealth of information on reloading and he is encouraging me to get into it too. He says it's a cheaper way to shoot.

    To answer some of the questions asked: I am not a serious/avid hunter, but I will hunt this year and probably many more. I don't want to pay the price for match grade ammo, but would not mind knowing that my bullet is going to land pretty close to where I'm aiming. I don't do any range shooting as we have plenty of land and live in rural Missouri. Tin cans are shot on sight. >grin<

    I don't think I will get into reloading in order to spend more money or to buy new guns with new calibers to reload. I have nine children (8 still at home) and a home business. Too busy to do much expanding, but not too busy for an interesting/rewarding hobby. Reloading sounds like a good option.

    How much does 100 spent 9mm, or .40 S&W shells go for? I saw 100 empty 9mm shells (I think it was 100) for nearly $25. Is this reasonable or was this big city prices (I was in St. Louis at a reloading shop).

    Appreciate the input.
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  • leadburnerleadburner Member Posts: 81 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    You should be able to get at least 1000 9mm brass for $25,40's a bit more.Then again brass is getting higher all the time.
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  • gotstolefromgotstolefrom Member Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    9 children. It sounds like you have been reloading for a while.

    I couldn't pass it up. We have a large family also, and it has been the salvation of all of us. Bringing up kids right is the best thing you can do.

    As others, in the end you may spend more money, but you will have better ammo and be independent of ammo factories. I have more brass than I will ever load, but I believe some of my children will load it after I'm gone. I hope it is an option for them, but if it is not, they will not want for ammo.
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  • jtmarine0831jtmarine0831 Member Posts: 908 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Save it or sell it! Don't recycle it, share the wealth! More and more Guys like us reloaders do business with people who shoot alot but don't reload just because they are a great source of cheap brass. It isn't hard anymore to get rid of just about any brass you can find. Hell, I have had people at the range try and pick up my brass just because they are going to sell it, kinda aggrevating sometimes. But anyways, I do suggest getting into reloading, yeah that initial investment can hurt some times but in the long run it is worth it. I have had almost as much fun reloading, developing new loads, and tailoring a load to a rifle as I have had shooting. Plus if you have a lot of brass that you have picked up and don't reload for, you can find people to swap with that do the same thing. Well, hope you join the band wagon and have some fun! Good luck
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  • dtknowlesdtknowles Member Posts: 810 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Check out the auctions on this site. In the past few weeks I have sold clean once fired Win headstamped 9mm brass for $25 and $26 per 1000 (thousand) that includes shipping. I got the brass for the trouble of picking it up and saving until it is enough to sell and then someone else gets a deal because it goes for a lot less than you would pay elsewhere. I generally have one brass auction going most weeks.

    Tim
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  • Old hickoryOld hickory Member Posts: 1,368 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Cost effectiveness depends on caliber or guage to a great extent. With .410 and 28 guage you can break even in less than 700 rounds because factory ammo is expensive in relation to the small amount of shot loaded in those shells. However, the cases in those guages are hard to come by and expensive. I have reloaders in all 5 guages but only do those 2. When you get to centerfire it depends on how much you shoot. Some calibers it is much better to just sell your brass. Also in rifle calibers if you do alot of experimental loading you tend to wind up with odd lots of bullets and powders that you don't like to load so that adds alot to cost. In centerfire rifle it's pretty hard to beat factory loads unless your a varmint hunter or benchrester.
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  • Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,892 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    For many years I saved my brass and traded it in for credit on loaded ammo.

    I have a rock chucker and 38 special dies now but I haven't loaded any rounds yet. (the reloader came with the house)
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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